Suppliers

Our members need high-quality products, sourcing and expert supply chain management. They also need to efficiently manage costs, while simultaneously delivering safe and effective patient care or other services. You are instrumental in meeting their needs.

We invite you to partner with Premier. Every step of the way, we work to add value on both sides, maintaining a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with suppliers and health systems, alternate sites and other businesses.

Who We Work With

Premier welcomes suppliers of all sizes, from small startups specializing in a single product to multinational conglomerates with diversified product portfolios. Our portfolio can allow us to offer a wide range of choices to our alliance members.

We help emerging companies position themselves for the national stage, just as readily as we help established suppliers maintain a competitive edge. Through our well-developed programs that encourage both innovation and competition, small and diverse suppliers have successfully entered and expanded in the marketplace.

For Premier, it’s not the size of your company or the length of our relationship that matters most. We work to forge a mutually beneficial, collaborative relationship with suppliers committed to delivering the best value to our members.

Our Healthcare Innovators Collaborative serves as a resource to help you stay up-to-date on the latest healthcare policy topics, issues and legislation.

And if your organization is looking for a partner to perform health outcomes and comparative effectiveness studies, Premier Applied Sciences is here to help.

Why Become a Premier Supplier?

Premier operates a group purchasing organization that is a first choice for not-for-profit health systems, academics and other facilities seeking high-value contract opportunities in a broad array of products and services.

Our ability to drive savings for our members and market share growth to our contracted suppliers has made us one of the nation’s largest group purchasing organizations. We are defined by our drive to push boundaries and our passion for helping our members succeed.

Our members turn to us for unparalleled data and expertise in helping them solve their most pressing problems. And now, with the complex demands of healthcare reform and the ongoing need to create efficiencies and find savings, we are more aligned with our members than ever. That’s why so many suppliers choose to work with us and understand the value that can be delivered through our alliance.

Join us for a prime opportunity to be part of our mission to help improve the health of communities.

Reputation

2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient

More than $56 billion in group purchasing volume

Named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere® Institute 11 years in a row

Field specialists who advise Premier’s field team and members on clinical and technical supply contracts

Region directors who serve as liaisons between Premier and the member sponsors that specialize in non-acute care programs

Contract advisors who call on both acute care and continuum of care/affiliate members to reinforce the opportunities available to them through Premier contracts

How to Become a Supplier

Ultimately, Premier member committees decide if a supplier gets a contract, but it’s up to you to start the contracting process. It begins with registration on Premierinc.com and introducing your products and/or services to us through PASSport 2.0 on the Supplier Bid Portal. As contract opportunities become available, new and incumbent suppliers register bids; the award process typically takes one year. Remember, completion of the product introduction form does not guarantee that your company will be awarded a group purchasing agreement.

Getting Started

Complete the registration form to begin your contracting process with Premier. Wait for your confirmation email.

If you’re approved, you’ll receive an email containing the username and a temporary password needed to introduce your products and/or services to us through PASSport. Please allow 48 business hours for processing and delivery. For customer service, contact the Premier Solution Center at 877.777.1552 (choose option 1) or solutioncenter@premierinc.com.

PASSport is a web-based, electronic sourcing tool used to manage all sourcing and bidding activities from a centralized location. A series of online modules provide you with guidance on how to navigate our electronic sourcing application.

Go to PASSport to register your interest in a bid. Log in using the username and temporary password you received via email (see step 2). You will then create your permanent password.

Browse PASSport and register in the applicable contract category or categories. Please note not all categories are open to registration. Mark your calendar to return and register prior to the beginning of the expected bid quarter if the category of interest is not currently available. Complete your PASSport training.

Contract Opportunities

To help you stay abreast of contracting opportunities with Premier, we manage a Contract Bid Calendar, which lists contract categories that are open to accept bids, as well as those that are pending or closed.

If a category is closed, you must wait until the next contracting cycle to submit a bid unless you have a new product that represents a significant advance in terms of safety, clinical outcomes or operational efficiency over what is currently available. Products that offer a significant advancement may be considered through our Technology Breakthroughs program.

We also offer a program for small and diverse suppliers that allows them to manage shorter term contracts with us. SEEDS (Sourcing Education and Enrichment for Diverse and Small Suppliers) helps minority-, women-, veteran-owned and small business enterprises grow at a pace commensurate with their existing business infrastructure and capacity.

Sourcing Process

We use PASSport, a web-based, electronic sourcing tool, to manage sourcing and bid cycle activities related to the Contract Bid Calendar. Your PASSport submissions become part of our information gathering process as our product planners collect data and facts on the market, suppliers, member buying patterns and preferences. Our thorough product evaluation not only addresses price but also examines product efficacy, effectiveness, reliability, comparability, environmental impact and application. Related products in development may also be taken into consideration.

Product Selection and Process Criteria

Premier members, through service line specific sourcing committees, determine which vendors and products are awarded a contract. The selection criteria can vary by product category, and is designed by members who have subject matter expertise on the product category being reviewed.

A number of criteria are considered during the identification, review and selection of a new product or technology at Premier, including, but not limited to:

Quality

Safety

Clinical impact

Cost effectiveness

Physician preference

Environmental impact

Diversity

Breakthrough potential

Member input

Premier’s product selection process is designed to be:

Standardized, but flexible. Many factors go into the ultimate selection of a product for contract. The best available clinical and market knowledge and expert review give Premier member hospitals the information they need to make sound product choices.

Evidence-based. Products must be FDA-approved and demonstrate that they perform what they are designed to do in a safe and effective manner. A number of resources are used to gather information about products, including: randomized controlled trials published in peer-reviewed professional journals, case studies, market guides or product comparisons, field trials, clinical staff surveys, quality monitors, customer satisfaction data, and financial data. In addition, Premier’s Safety Institute may evaluate product-related information/data involving patient and worker safety as well as environmental issues.

Metric driven. The functionality of a product must be able to be objectively measured.

Transparent. Premier’s ultimate goal is to assure that all suppliers and products are considered and evaluated in a consistent, timely and fair manner, regardless of the size of a company, the breadth of its product line, or its relationship with Premier.

Dynamic. Premier’s product planning process is shaped by the ever-changing needs of its members.

Diversity friendly. Partnering with Premier does not necessarily mean you must be capable of supplying your products nationally. Opportunities exist for suppliers who are regional and in some cases local in scope. Premier encourages interest from small and diverse suppliers.

Interdependent. No product evaluations or contracting decisions are made in a vacuum. Premier relies on the input of its members for decisions regarding new product categories and individual contracts. Member-based committees comprised of clinicians and others regularly meet to review new products and proposed contracts.

Ethically driven. Premier fully endorses and supports the healthcare group purchasing industry Code of Conduct, which underscores the commitment of our organizations to help healthcare providers deliver the best in quality healthcare at a reasonable cost, and to do so in a way that is ethical and fair to all participants in the healthcare marketplace.

To ensure that vendors have the ability to address concerns, grievances or complaints relating to the contracting award process, we have a vendor grievance policy.

Contract Awards

After the contract negotiations phase, the results are presented to the appropriate member sourcing committee. These committees, formed from our member health systems and other facilities, determine which suppliers are awarded contracts. If you are awarded an agreement, our membership would have access to the specially negotiated pricing and terms you’ve agreed to with Premier. Members will decide individually whether to exercise their option to purchase your contracted products or services based on their needs and other factors.

Technology Breakthroughs

Becoming a contracted supplier gives you the ability to put your product in front of our alliance members. There’s no better way to increase your sales and revenue, gain awareness in the marketplace and help our members save money on products and services they use every day.

But, what happens if our competitive bidding cycle is closed and you’ve just launched a new, innovative product? We don’t want our members to have to wait until the next bidding cycle to access the most cutting-edge products – which is why we have a Technology Breakthroughs program.

Our Technology Breakthroughs process, already included in our group purchasing agreements, improves our members’ access to new technologies and helps suppliers like you introduce innovative products.

Think your product qualifies as a Technology Breakthrough?

If your product uses innovative technology to significantly provide any of these benefits, you can request more information.

Improves patient or healthcare worker safety

Improves clinical outcomes

Improves non-clinical operational efficiencies

Bridges a gap in care

Offers a dramatic process-of-care cost savings

If you’re on the cutting edge of the latest advances in healthcare, we want to help you stand out from the crowd.

Our experts are here to help.

An answer is just a few clicks away. Please provide your information and a Premier professional will contact you.

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